Sufficiently Qualified

No man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest, yet everyone thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of government. ~ Socrates

In the school of political projectors, I was but ill entertained, the professors appearing, in my judgment, wholly out of their senses; which is a scene that never fails to make me melancholy. These unhappy people were proposing schemes for persuading monarchs to choose favorites upon the score of their wisdom, capacity, and virtue; of teaching ministers to consult the public good; of rewarding merit, great abilities, and eminent services, of instructing princes to know their true interest, by placing it on the same foundation with that of their people; of choosing for employment persons qualified to exercise them; with many other wild impossible chimeras, that never entered before into the heart of man to conceive; and confirmed in me the old observation, that there is nothing so extravagant and irrational which some philosophers have not maintained for truth. ~ Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels

Thus no member of the commonwealth can have a hereditary privilege as against his fellow-subjects; and no-one can hand down to his descendants the privileges attached to the rank he occupies in the commonwealth, nor act as if he were qualified as a ruler by birth and forcibly prevent others from reaching the higher levels of the hierarchy through their own merit. He may hand down everything else, so long as it is material and not pertaining to his person, for it may be acquired and disposed of as property and it may over a series of generations create considerable inequalities in wealth among the members of the commonwealth. But he may not prevent his subordinates from raising themselves to his own level if they are able and entitled to do so by their talent, industry and good fortune. If this were not so, he would be allowed to practice coercion without himself being subject to coercive counter-measures from others, and would thus be more than their fellow-subject. ~ Immanuel Kant

I feel I’m as qualified for office as any of the other comedians who are running. ~ Grace Hansen

Those that have done nothing in life are not qualified to judge of those that have done little. ~ Samuel Johnson

Men are qualified for civil liberties in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their appetites: in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity. ~ Edmund Burke

Ordinary men wonder why those of only average intelligence so often rise to the highest levels of power, while highly intelligent people generally do not. They fail to understand that reaching the highest levels of power has nothing to do with admired attributes such as intelligence and competence. The predominant characteristic of those who rise to the highest levels of power is a total disregard for the consequences – including death – that will befall thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or millions of human beings if it is deemed necessary to attain his (or her) goals. Generally speaking, it is this total disregard for humanity that has distinguished “rulers” throughout history. ~ Dave Champion

Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature. ~ Tom Robbins

If you go to Heaven without being naturally qualified for it, you will not enjoy yourself there. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyze yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak. ~ Evelyn Waugh

A person however learned and qualified in his life’s work, in whom gratitude is absent, is devoid of that beauty of character which makes personality fragrant. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

Bush gave an interview and he said people will vote for him because “They’ve seen me weep, they’ve seen me laugh, and they’ve seen me hug.” These are the same qualifications for a Tickle Me Elmo. ~ Bill Maher

President Bush said that if illegal immigrants want citizenship, they’d have to do three things: pay taxes, hold meaningful jobs, and learn English. Bush doesn’t meet those qualifications. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

In America, anyone can become president. That’s the problem. ~ George Carlin

The best defense against partisanship is expertise. ~ Roger Angell

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. ~ Patrick Henry

In almost everything, experience is more valuable than precept. [Nam in omnibus fere minus valent praecepta quam experimenta.] ~ Quintilian

Experience is what allows us to repeat our mistakes, only with more finesse. ~ Derwood Fincher

Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes along. ~ Samuel Butler

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. ~ Douglas Adams

Experience teaches only the teachable. ~ Aldous Huxley

Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl. ~ Stephen Leacock

The companion of an evening and the companion for life require very different qualifications. ~ Samuel Richardson

There are people who tell you to shut up because you’re just a celebrity, but pundits, talking heads, they’re every bit the celebrity and a lot of them aren’t any more qualified than the average man on the street. ~ Kevin Bacon

What was I qualified to do to make a living? Nothing. You don’t need qualifications as an actor or a politician. And I didn’t want to be a politician. ~ James Garner

Don’t be afraid to make things up. Never fear being exposed as a fraud. Experts make things up all the time. They’re qualified to. ~ Stephen Colbert

If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done. ~ Peter Ustinov

I don’t say ‘Tis impossible for an impudent man not to rise in the world, but a moderate merit with a large share of impudence is more probable to be advanced than the greatest qualifications without it. ~ Mary Wortley Montagu

At the heart of personality is the need to feel a sense of being lovable without having to qualify for that acceptance. ~ Paul Tournier

I adore adverbs; they are the only qualifications I really much respect. ~ Henry James

What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honorable, than that of teaching? ~ Harriet Martineau

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This site offers a daily column on current events, and unlike other blogs, in long form. Short posts pointing to this and that and saying "Oh my!" seems a bit lazy. Columns here are an attempt to think things through. If you'd like to come along for the ride, fine. If you have neither the time nor patience for that, that is also fine - you can click on the LINKS tab at the top of the page and visit the sites that offer quick hits. Those provide the raw material for the analyses here.

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